II. An Immersive "Reality"

Editing

Spirited Away, in adopting a magic realist approach, allows “viewers [to be] absorbed in the experience of the story rather than the storytelling” (Nichols 178). Editing in this film, therefore, is of particular importance due to its role of conveying a sense of time and space of the world that has been “built” specifically for the film, in order for viewers focus on the experience of the story. To fulfil this purpose, Spirited Away employs seamless realism in its editing, which is most striking in Chihiro’s journey from her room to the pig farm.

At the 45-minute mark, Chihiro is seen to be shivering in the morning after her parents turn into pigs. Haku wakes Chihiro up in her room and asks her to meet him at the bridge. We then see Chihiro walk down the stairs, enter Kamaji’s workplace before walking up another long staircase, during which she looks across the ocean and at the pig farm. Then, she crosses the bridge and finally meets Haku.

Instead of directly cutting from Chihiro being in her room to her being on the bridge, Studio Ghibli meticulously presents her journey to the audience through continuity editing. All of the scenes in this sequence feature places Chihiro has passed by the night before, meaning they are shown to the audience for a second time, although this time with a reversal in their order. Consequently, the sequence constructs a clear geographical map to the audience and thereby conveys a sense of time and space without drawing attention to the storytelling process.

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Mise-en-scène

Even though seamless realism plays a significant role in the editing in Spirited Away, certain scenes do gravitate towards aesthetic realism in their mise-en-scène to “offer as objectively as possible a form of realism… [by] providing the spectators with space to read the text for [themselves]” (Hayward 312).

Take the shot where No Face jumps into the ocean in pursuit of Chihiro outside Aburaya as an example. In this extreme long shot, Chihiro and Lin are in the foreground on sea level; No Face is in the middle ground as he stands on a pipe, up above the ocean. All three characters are in focus, demonstrating a depth within the shot. Interestingly, even though Chihiro and Lin take up much more space of the screen than No Face, both of them are looking towards No Face; Chihiro even has her back facing the camera. As a result of the mise-en-scène, spectators are given the choice to focus on either Chihiro and Lin who paddle away from No Face, or No Face who jumps down the pipe to follow the pair.

Through the integration of aesthetic realism, Spirited Away emphasises a sense of objectivity in a number of scenes so as to avoid providing “an encoded preferred reading” (Hayward 312) to spectators. This objectivity, therefore, furthers the “reality effect” (Hayward 311) while refraining from drawing attention to its act of storytelling.

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Point of View

A range of point of view is employed throughout Spirited Away. The limited 3rd person POV is used predominantly, though its omniscient counterpart also plays a crucial part; the indirect POV, too, is utilised in spectator positioning.

The 3rd-person POV prevails throughout the film. Limited 3rd-person POV reveals to spectators the information the protagonist, Chihiro, is privy to. In the scene where the badly wounded Haku goes to see Yubaba after Chihiro helps him, we are unable to know about Haku’s journey, just like Chihiro. As a result, the audience are able to identify with Chihiro who feels anxious and worried about Haku’s safety.

On the other hand, omniscient 3rd-person POV is apparent in Spirited Away. In certain scenes, spectators are introduced to knowledge beyond what Chihiro knows, such as in the case of the morning after Chihiro becomes a staff member in Aburaya. In the previous night, Haku’s attitude changes from helpful and compassionate (when he helps Chihiro), to distanced and authoritative after they meet Yubaba. In light of such a change, Chihiro asks Lin, “Are there two Hakus?” To which Lin provides a negative answer. Spectators then see Haku bidding farewell to Yubaba the next morning before approaching Chihiro, once again being earnest and compassionate. Through such a use of omniscient POV, the audience is able to comprehend Haku’s character motivations, and thereby realise Haku’s difficult situation of being Yubaba’s apprentice while also wanting to save Chihiro. This ultimately leads to an identification with Haku from spectators.

Finally, indirect POV is used to position spectators to empathise with Chihiro’s emotions. When Chihiro serves the stink spirit in the big soaking tub, we see eye-level shots of her standing close to the wall as well as that of the stink spirit entering the tub from Chihiro’s perspective. The stink spirit jumps into the tub and lets out a fetid breath; Chihiro appears to be disgusted and overwhelmed by the spirit’s level of filthiness but tries to remain calm in performing her duties to serve him, nonetheless. Hence, the audience could see Chihiro’s actions, emotions and the cause of those actions within the sequence. This use of indirect POV could, therefore, encourage spectators to identify with Chihiro.

The utilisation of various POV promotes empathy from spectators upon Chihiro and Haku. In identifying with characters, spectators are more immersed in the film-viewing experience and the “reality” portrayed in Spirited Away.

To fully realise the potential of the world built specifically for Spirited Away, the editing, mise-en-scène and point of view are exploited by Studio Ghibli. The combination of these film techniques produces an immersive “reality” for the audience.